Logo for news use, for stories regarding Washington state government — Olympia, the Legislature and state agencies. No caption necessary. 20220331

Local News

Crime, taxes and artificial intelligence on tap as WA lawmakers prep for session

Upcoming hearings offer a preview of issues legislators will encounter when they convene in January.

Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz (right), state Sen. T’wina Nobles and Smokey Bear pose in front of a proposed speciality license plate in a Pierce County fire station on Nov. 20, 2023. If approved, Franz said proceeds from sales of the plates will go to public education programs focused on wildfire prevention. (Jerry Cornfield/Washington State Standard)

Local News

Only you (almost) can put Smokey Bear on Washington license plates

A proposal calls for putting the iconic bear on a specialty plate, but it will require public support…

Starbucks workers and allies participate in a strike and picket organized by Starbucks Workers United during the company's Red Cup Day Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, at a location near Pike Place Market in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Local News

Starbucks workers in Everett, Marysville join national strike

Hundreds of Starbucks union workers at 15 locations across Washington joined the one-day strike.

Sen. June Robinson (D-Everett) speaks during a Healthcare Summit at Everett Community College on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)

Local News

State hauls in nearly $900M from first year of capital gains tax

Sen. June Robinson, D-Everett, chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, anticipates many conversations on how to…

The view from the top of Index Town Wall in Spring 2021. (Caleb Hutton / The Herald)

Local News

Climbers purchase 20 acres of famed climbing walls in Index

Climbing groups bought the parcel Monday, including Lower Lump and Inner Walls, calling it “the final big piece…

Ferries pass on a crossing between Mukilteo and Whidbey Island. (Andy Bronson / Herald file)

Local News

Most WA transportation services back online following cyberattack

The department was still investigating the cyberattack and could not say Friday what caused it.

Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz watches as a team works to remove old toxic pilings from the water as part of larger salmon restoration plan near Ebey Waterfront Park in Marysville, Washington on Friday, Feb. 10, 2023.  (Annie Barker / The Herald)

Northwest

Washington Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz drops out of governor’s race

In an announcement Friday, Franz said she decided instead to run to replace retiring Rep. Derek Kilmer who…

Two Washington State ferries pass along the route between Mukilteo and Clinton as scuba divers swim near the shore Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023, in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)

Local News

Cyberattack crashes WA transportation websites

Traffic cams and ferry tracking are among the services that the incident took down.

Senator Marko Liias speaks at the ground breaking of the Swift Orange Line on Tuesday, April 19, 2022 in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Local News

Traffic deaths are down in Finland. Edmonds senator is going to find out how

Sen. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, will be part of the contingent making the trip in December.

Fentanyl-laced pills — made to look like prescription oxycodone — were seized by law enforcement during a 2021 investigation into drug trafficking in Snohomish County. (U.S. Attorney’s Office)

Local News

‘We’re burying them every week’: Tribes call on Inslee to declare opioid emergency

American Indian and Alaska Native residents have the highest death rates from opioid overdoses of any racial or…

One worker looks up from the cargo area as another works in what will be the passenger compartment on one of the first Boeing 787 jets as it stands near completion at the front of the assembly line, Monday, May 19, 2008, in Everett, Wash. The plane, the first new Boeing jet in 14 years, is targeted for power on in June followed by an anticipated first flight sometime late in 2008.  (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Northwest

As Boeing Machinists contract talks near, union savors new labor power

If Boeing balks at union demands, it could face a damaging strike that would seriously set back its…

FILE - A worker cleans a jet bridge at Paine Field in Everett, Wash., before passengers board an Alaska Airlines flight, March 4, 2019. Seattle-based Alaska Airlines owns Horizon Air. Three passengers sued Alaska Airlines on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023, saying they suffered emotional distress from an incident last month in which an off-duty pilot, was accused of trying to shut down the engines of a flight from Washington state to San Francisco. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

Northwest

3 passengers sue Alaska Airlines after off-duty pilot accused of trying to cut engines mid-flight

In the complaint filed Thursday, passengers alleged that the pilot should never have been allowed in the cockpit.

Joseph David Emerson, left, 44, was arraigned in Multnomah County Circuit Court on Tues., Oct. 24, 2023, in Portalnd, Ore. Emerson, a pilot, is accused of attempting to disable the engines of a plane on which he was riding while off-duty last Sunday. Emerson pleaded not guilty Tuesday. (Dave Killen/The Oregonian via AP, Pool)

Northwest

Wife of ex-Alaska Airlines pilot says she’s in shock after averted Everett flight disaster

“This is not my Joe,” Sarah Stretch told reporters after attending her husband Joseph Emerson’s first appearance in…

Logo for news use, for stories regarding Washington state government — Olympia, the Legislature and state agencies. No caption necessary. 20220331

Northwest

Washington clears backlog of over 10,000 sexual assault testing kits

Clearing the backlog has already helped solve at least 21 sexual assault cases, according to Attorney General Bob…

FILE - A Value Village store is seen, Dec. 12, 2017, in Edmonds, Wash. Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson's long-running legal case against the thrift store chain Savers Value Village turned out to be no bargain, as the state was ordered on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023, to pay the company nearly $4.3 million in legal fees. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)

Northwest

Washington’s legal fees top $4.2M in failed lawsuit against Value Village

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s legal case against the thrift store chain turned out to be no bargain.

Trainer Marcia Henton feeds Lolita the killer whale, also known as Tokitae and Toki, inside her stadium tank at the Miami Seaquarium on Saturday, July 8, 2023, in Miami, Fla. After officials announced plans to move Lolita from the Seaquarium, trainers and veterinarians are now working to prepare her for the move. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/TNS)

Northwest

Tokitae the orca died from old age and multiple chronic illnesses, necropsy finds

The exam supported early reports from the Miami Seaquarium, which cited kidney failure as the cause of death.

Northwest

Ex-soldier charged with trying to leak secrets to China

The former U.S. Army intelligence officer was arrested Friday at the airport in San Francisco. He’d been charged…

Northwest

Why the world’s climate fate could depend on the ‘Amazon of the North’

A new book argues for a novel way of viewing the rainforest that stretches up North America’s western…

Tents used by unhoused people alongside Dupont Street in Bellingham. (Hailey Hoffman / Cascadia Daily News)

Northwest

Could giving cash to the homeless reduce the problem?

A recent study out of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver found that unconditional cash transfers can…

Members of the Island County Sheriffs Office take part in the search for a chartered floatplane Monday afternoon in Freeland, Washington on August 5, 2022.  (Kevin Clark / The Herald)

Northwest

Failure of single component caused seaplane crash near Whidbey Island, NTSB says

Evidence showed the failure happened before the crash, not as a result of it, investigators concluded.